How To Structure Your To-Do List So That You Actually Get Something Done Today

0 replies
Ok, this might be difficult to do for a lot of people. I know for me it is. But it's a real way that you can get a handle on yourself and your work.

Ask yourself if this seems familiar at all: You wake up in the day, with a project in mind, and a list of things you need to get done to accomplish that project.

With list in hand, you happily sit at your laptop and start to work. And work. And work. Morning turns into noon, which turns into afternoon and dusk. You look at your to-do list, and... it's less than half done.

And, sometimes, the whole list is still there.

Next time you start off your work, try this: Take your list. And order it, from top to bottom, according to how easy the list item is, or how good you are at doing it. If you're good at and love writing, put the "writing" items at the top. If you're good at graphic design, or at talking to people, put those items first. Put all the most painful, hardest, most complicated, unsavory things you wish you didn't have to do right down at the bottom. For me, writing and programming go at the top, calling and talking to people go last.

Have your list? Good. Now flip it over.

And force yourself, I mean literally force yourself, to do the list from the bottom up.

I originally came across this concept in Brian Tracy's "Eat That Frog!", a small book wherein Mr. Tracy suggests that, if you were to wake up one day and, immediately before doing anything else, swallow a whole frog... you'd be able to get through the rest of the day knowing you had already done the hardest thing you were going to do that day.

It's been many years and dozens of other books since I read that little frog one, and even now, that one nugget is something that I remind myself of and make myself live with constantly. Because it is one of those rare pieces of advice that really does work.

Why do this? Well, firstly, because there's no time. There has never been, and there will never be enough time to do everything that's on your list... even for today alone... never mind all the other stuff you wish you could do. So leaving the most unsavory thing for last... or even leaving it till you're "warmed up and ready" to do it... is just asking for it to be left undone forever.

But it's not only about time. It's also about yourself. When you get the hardest, most painful things on your list done, and you know that it's over and done with, you'll feel lighter. The day will seem brighter. You'll be proud of yourself. And then you'll do better and faster work, and get better results. Try it.
#list #structure #today #todo

Trending Topics